Sierra had closed her eyes, in the fear of the gunshot and waited for the bullet to pass through her body.

Unfortunately, nothing similar happened with either with her, yet the pain didn't raise up to her brain except the existing wound in her left bicep.

Slowly and steadily, Sierra gathered the courage to open her eyes, which traveled to see that the man under the black mask was lying on the ground.

"W-w-..what...

" nothing made sense to her nonfunctioning brain. Her lips parted but there was no sound.

In fact, her breath was again on strike, as her eyes were becoming dizzy.

"I..is...he..

"

She had no words but then, her sight caught the fresh blood flowing out from the man. Not only that, his gun had dropped to the ground and the man himself collapsed with a loud bang.

Her blood turned cold as she trembled very badly. However, this wasn't enough since her eyes fell on the man, who stood out of his car and had probably shot the masked man too.

"C-Cha...Charles..

" mumbling his name, Sierra regained her rationality.

But not to the extent, as she saw him walking in her direction with his hurried steps. His other hand was wrapped around the gun he held, with a rough look that had plastered on his face.

Charles immediately walked towards her, while keeping the same expressions throughout. He seemed irritated, frustrated, announced, and whatnot..

"Are you feeling dizzy?

" was the first question he asked when he bent down on his knees and saw the wound which she covered via her hands.

"This wound…. Did the man fire the bullet first too?

"

In return, she passed him a nod. But the stunned and rigid body language of hers can never be denied.

Charles was purely lying in miserable condition. Sierra's eyes traced back to see the man, who lay behind on the ground.

"I..Is..he...d-dead...?

"

"No, he isn't. I simply made him leave his gun and then fired a dart which struck his neck and made him lay unconscious there.

" Charles honestly told her.

"Da..art?

" Sierra removed her eyes from the man and looked again at Charles.

"Did..you give him poison?

" She was unsure, sincerely knowing that Charles can go to any lengths.

At the end of the day, he is too in the underworld and... more dangerous than anyone else!

Innitlay, Charles had decided to play against it and keep himself quiet. However, where he caught her curious and scared eyes, did he immediately understand that the explanation was much needed by his side.

"The dart had the substance to make him lose his consciousness. This way, he won't get up so easily and...you are fine now..

" was all he muttered, in a slow voice.

Charles had deliberately told her in the pieces, as her condition was alarming to his mind.

But it made no sense to her current messy mind. All she absorbed was the fact that he was simply not dead.... the relief washed over her entire self.

A deep sigh escaped from her lips where she traced her gaze back at the ground to not blink her eyes even once.

Subconsciously, she saw Charles reaching his hand near her timid body where he wrapped her in his embrace, in the most delicate manner.

"Sh..it's alright, I'm here now..

"

"Y-You...'' She had no words to define her situation.

It gave her heart the restless condition, causing a ton of heartache too. Mental pressure had already started to show its effect as well, making Sierra feel her limbs getting heavy over time.

The more she rested her head on Charles's embrace, the more she could sense herself drowning somewhere deep to imagine.

At this point, Charles was constantly asking her a question but she didn't answer any. He was worried, she guessed it from him.

But the next second, she was all blank out in his embrace, with her weighted eyelids closing and closing....resting all in silence....

.....

There was a sound near her, which was hard to recognize. The frown had curved on Sierra's head since the lines on her forehead had deepened. 'Who the hell is screaming so much...'

It was strange to reveal where her body ached. She could sense herself not able to even lift her finger off, in her dreams.

As if, she was floating in the middle of the clouds, since her body felt heavier than any time before. It was all weird, a sensation hard to recognize

Opening eyes was becoming not so effortless task either, but then, Sierra did manage to open her gaze to find herself lying on the soft mattress and someone holding her hand on her right side.

Blank, confused, she rotated her wide-opened eyes to find Noah sitting by her side. He had tenderly held her hand, near his face.

"N-Noah... Ailey...

"

"Muma..... you are finally awake!

" Ailey happily exclaimed, rubbing her eyes to remove all the tears.

"Noah, go and inform uncle too.

"

"I will sister.

" Noah immediately dropped his mother's hand to get off the bed and ran out of the room.

On the other hand, Ailey rotated her gaze back at her mother. She sat by her left side, to finally caress her mother's forehead.

"Don't worry mum. You will be fine very soon.

"

"Ailey will take care of muma so that she can get up from the bed as early as she can!

"

"B-but..what happened.. to me...How did I get here?

" Sierra asked, doubtedly. In response, Ailey passed her a warm smile,

"Uncle brought you here with him. He told us that you had fainted because you got some injury. But momma...how come you fainted because of a minor injury..

"

Even Sierra didn't understand everything at one glance. She shook her head, to question,

"About whom are you talking about, Ailey? Who..uncle?

"

"Oh, he is uncle Charles! The one whom we met at a cafe that day!

"

.....

Let me know your views through comments ^.^